Just Watch the Fireworks
by sively
Summary: Neo's POV, a short vignette about the matrix, Trinity, and what he knows to be reality.


**Disclaimer:** As you may very well know, I do not own Neo/Trinity, or anything about 'the Matrix.'   
**Description:** This is a vignette. Neo's POV. For ULTIMATE results listen to "Just Watch the Fireworks" by Jimmy Eat World, and grab a handful of popcorn while reading. :)

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The sting of the spike through my head is gone and all I see is the sky. The fireworks. The stars. They almost convince me they are real. But then I look a while longer and I see strings.. green.. running through. Green code. I blink back and realize that none of it is real, just like everything else in the Matrix. A program, a construct- an elaborate lie weaving through our definition of truth. 

I stare intently at the deceptive design of the sky on a New year's eve. And then I hear footsteps.

I turn abruptly behind me and I see you.

Your mouth forms a quick, little smile as you stand next to me. I smile at you as you tilt your head up to look at the sky. I reach for your hand. Your fingers entwine with mine and we stand there, on the edge of the cliff marveling at the sparks and the colors and the bursting light. It was all so beautiful if it wasn't so fake. 

I give your hand a little squeeze. You look at me, and our eyes meet. "Have you ever seen fireworks like these?"

You nod. "Before I was unplugged. It was different then- they weren't this colorful."

I silently agree as the velvet evening sky becomes a canvas of splashing colors and bright streaks of fire. The cackling and snapping of the fireworks are heard distantly, along with noisy car horns and the buzz of people dancing on the streets. "It still amazes me, though", you whisper.

I look at you again, not knowing for sure what you're referring to. You turn to face me and I see your clear blue eyes. They are so clear. I see the reflection of the vivid sky in the depths of your eyes. "I know that every bit of this, everything I see, everything around me is not real. But it still amazes me. The matrix is only an illusion, but it is so close.. so damn close, to reality."

"I know", I say quietly, not breaking eye contact. Somehow what you say makes sense, but I feel that you mean to say something _else._ I search your eyes. And then I find that one strand of doubt, that one grain of uncertainty that stains your thoughts. "_This_ is real, Trinity", I breathe. I slowly let go of your hand. "The matrix may distort our perceptions of reality. The real world may not live up to what is reality. But wherever you or I go, I've always known one thing and that is what I feel for you." I pause to drink in the sight of you, your hair blown gently by the cool breeze, your intense eyes looking right back at me. "It is more real than anything I've ever known."

I can feel your eyes bore through me. "So _this_ isn't an illusion?", you ask almost as if you were joking. But I knew you weren't.

I move closer to you, so close that I can almost feel your pulse, your breath against my chest. You stay where you are, your eyes fixed on me without the littlest sign of flinching or discomfort. I may have grown and learned so much since finding out that I am the One- but you still overpower me, even with a mere gaze. I wish I knew all the answers, Trinity. I wish I knew everything that the One is supposed to know but even I don't know what they are. I don't know where to start. 

I shake my head firmly, cupping your face gently in between my palms. "No", I whisper shortly before I stop your mouth with a kiss, soft and passionate. 

I pull away gently and look at you, even more fascinated by the minute. 

_You have no idea how real you are, how beautiful you are to me._ The cracks of light against the sky bring our attention back to the fireworks display which still haven't stopped. I slowly put my arms around you, my lips grazing the edge of your right ear. You jerk an inch away and I laugh because I know that it tickles you. You laugh, too. It is a rare thing, but you do.

We continue to watch the city and the horizon, and I continue to think. How can I tell you that even though I search your eyes, I find what I am looking for, but not in the _same way_ that I search the matrix? How can I tell you that I am perfectly sure of all the constructs in this simulated world, and at the same time sure about _us?_ How can I show you that outside of here, and especially in here, you are real to me and I can _see_ it? 

You have no code, Trinity.

I look at everything in here and they are all formed by strings of green code but not you, _never_ you. I can't explain it myself. I look at you -at the lack of code and into the depths of your eyes and back- and everytime I do, I feel surer, all the more certain that whatever truths I may have learned from this journey, none can be so powerful as what I feel for you.

Nothing about you is simulated by the matrix. Or at least in my eyes, you are different.. you have always been. You are my love and my everything. You are real.

You gasp and point at a spot in the sky. "Neo, look at that!"

I watch a huge blossom of red, yellow and orange light erupt in the pitch-black sky. It is a marvel of the construct, a bunch of colors and green code that belongs to the sea of strings that is the matrix. But you are right, Trinity. It's all fake, we know that. Still it _is_ something worth looking at. 

"Woah, Trin", I whisper, stunned. "That's amazing."

***************

lyrics to "Just Watch the Fireworks" by Jimmy Eat World:

Here you can be anything.  
I think that scares you.  
I've been here before but only by myself.  
What giving up gives you and where giving up takes you.  
I've had and I've been.  
Here in center frame, there's only air.  
Just enough space to fit.  
I said it out loud over and over but what do I know.  
I said it out loud but it did not help.  
I'll stop now.  
Just so I can hear you I stay up as late as it takes, as long as it takes.  
I promised I'd see it again.  
I promised I'd see this with you now.

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Okay, so I didnt quite know how to insert the lyrics of the beautiful song to my fic.. but ah there you go. I don't know how that turned out cos it's a bloody 3 AM already and I have KARATE at 11 in the morning. Well, I don't do good romantic vignettes.. but all reviews are welcome! =)


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